Create A Slipstreamed Vista SP1 DVD

Creating a slipstreamed CD in Windows XP was an easy and straightforward process. In Vista it's still relatively easy, but it is a longer process that takes more preparation to successfully create a slipstreamed Vista DVD. The procedure is as follows.

Step 1 - Preparing the System to Slipstream Vista SP1

There are two essential requirements that have to be in place to slipstream SP1 into Vista. First, you need a working computer that has a minimum of XP/SP2 or Vista already installed. Second, you need a separate partition on the current hard drive, or a separate drive, where a copy of Vista will be installed and used to create the slipstreamed image. There is another option where you can use a virtual machine on your primary system. However you go about it, the result is the same.

What it boils down to is to be able to slipstream SP1 into Vista you have to create a dual boot situation. That requires a separate partition for each one of the installed operating systems, be they a XP-SP2/Vista or a Vista/Vista combination. Take a look at Fig. 01 below and you'll see there are two hard drives and an optical drive. Partition C: on Disk 0 already has Windows XP installed with the remainder of the drive space being unallocated. All of the space on Disk 1 is currently unallocated.

This setup will work fine for creating the slipstreamed DVD. The installed operating system can remain in place on C: and Vista can be installed in the unallocated space on either Disk 0 or Disk 1 once it has been formatted. Keep in mind two important points regarding what I'm trying to explain here. First, it doesn't matter what operating system is installed on the C: partition as long as it is XP/SP2 or greater and it is functioning properly. Second, to create a slipstreamed Vista DVD you are going to perform a clean install of your Vista DVD in a different partition or hard drive. That same clean installation will then be updated with the service pack, used to build a new slipstreamed image for burning, then deleted from this system.

Fig. 01

If you are fortunate enough to have a setup similar to what I've shown above with the unallocated space then you're essentially set to start the slipstreaming procedure. In all likelihood though you don't have that unallocated space or the free space on an extra drive and you're going to be looking at a situation more like what is shown in Fig. 02 below. In this case you have to free up some space.

Fig. 02

If you need to free up some space there are a couple of available options. If you have XP installed you'll need a third party partition manager to adjust the size of the current partitions. Many partition managers are available, some free and some paid. Google is your friend. If you have Vista installed, you may be able to use the built in "Shrink Volume" and "Extend Volume" functions.

The Vista example in Fig. 03 shows I've right clicked on the D: partition and then "Shrink Volume" to bring up the Shrink D: window. In this particular case I could shrink volume D: by 21961 MB, leaving that amount of space as unallocated after the process completes. The 21961MB could then be formatted and used to install the copy of Vista to be used for the slipstreaming process. Be aware that just because extend and shrink options are available, you may not be able to free up enough available space due to the way files are organized on the partition.

Fig. 03

Step 2 - Installing Operating Systems and Applications

In this step it's time to move forward and get the operating systems and a few essential applications installed. Before I go any further I want to reiterate something I said earlier. There are many, many applications available that will accomplish the same things that I detail in this tutorial. On top of that, the methods and procedures I use are ones I've found to be the easiest and simplest, but by no means are they the 'proper' or 'only' way to accomplish the desired results. That said, lets move on. Here's what will happen.

• Install Operating System - If you already have a working operating system on partition C: (XP/SP2 and higher or Vista) then you are ready to go. If the operating system on partition C: is XP this needs to be the Service Pack 2 (SP2) version. Gold and SP1 versions are unacceptable. If you need to start with a Gold or SP1 version, that's fine, just use a SP2 CD to update it after the initial installation. It isn't necessary, nor recommended, that the installation be activated. The entire install will be deleted as soon as the slipstream/integration is completed.
• Install Windows Automated Installation Kit [WAIK] - This is required, not optional. It contains the imagex application that will be used in the slipstream/integration process. The WAIK is available as a free download from Microsoft. There are a couple of system requirements for the WAIK to install, but if they are needed you'll be informed by the installer. They are included in the download and available for installation from the WAIK installer interface.

The only part of the WAIK that's actually needed for this process is the imagex application. I don't know why, but to the best of my knowledge, Microsoft doesn't offer it as a separate download. That's a shame, because the WAIK is a huge download, some versions exceeding 1GB. I've been told by users that if you do a Google search you can find copies of imagex that have been posted by individuals. I have no idea if it's legal to post it or not, but I suspect it is not. I wrote Microsoft and asked them if I could post it here for download as a user convenience. I have not received a response. I'm not surprised as I have never received a response from Microsoft to any question I have ever e-mailed.

Fig. 04

• ISO Integration and Burning Software - There are probably hundreds of programs available that will take care of this process. In my case, I use UltraISO v9.0 simply because I like the interface and it has never failed me in all the times I've used it. It isn't free but there is a trial version available so you can do a test install and see if you like the basic program. However, to handle the file sizes in this tutorial the paid version is required. If you want something free, do a Google search and see what's available.

Step 3 - The Integration/Slipstreaming Process

The primary operating system, Windows Automatic Installation Kit, and Ultra ISO have all been installed on the primary C: partition. From here on it's critical the steps be followed in order with extra care and attention paid to where you have to point the system when it's rebooted. If you do mess up it isn't fatal, but you will have to go back and start over from the secondary Vista installation, the one that will be used to create the new image.

• Perform a clean install of Vista to the new partition that was created in the previous steps. Just to be extra clear, this copy of Vista IS NOT installed on your primary partition where your primary operating system is installed. This is a completely separate Vista installation that will be used for the new image. When this install is complete you will have a dual boot system.

• Allow this installation to complete (you don't have to do anything, it will reboot automatically) until you come to the screen where it asks you to enter your username. Do not enter your name, a password, or anything else at this screen. Just press Ctrl+Shift+F3 (all three keys pressed at the same time) and the system will reboot.

Fig. 06

• Once the system reboots you will be brought back to the main Vista desktop with the System Preparation Tool window visible. Leave this window open until told to close it later in the procedure. Just move it off to the side and make a point not to click it again. Go ahead and install Vista Service Pack 1 at this point. In spite of the warning here to close all open programs, leave the System Preparation Tool open. You can also leave the 'Automatically Restart the Computer' checkbox selected. The service pack will install and the system will reboot back into Vista automatically. Do not interfere with the reboot by selecting any dual boot options during the reboot process.

Fig. 07

• Once the system has rebooted back to the Vista desktop the System Preparation Tool will still be open. Leave the 'Enter System Out of Box Experience' selected, place a checkmark next to 'Generalize' and change 'Shutdown Options' to Shutdown. Click the [OK] button to shut down the system.

Fig. 08

• Assuming the system did shutdown properly, go and restart it and boot into your primary operating system. If your primary operating system is Windows XP, the choice you want is the "Earlier Version of Windows" as shown in Fig. 09 below.

Fig. 09

• If Vista is the primary operating system and listed twice on the screen (Fig. 10) as your possible choices, select the second or bottom operating system choice. In dual boot Vista installations the most recent installation is listed first. The first choice listed is the one that will be used for the image and NOT the one you want to boot into at this point. 

Fig. 10

• Once you're back into the primary (original) operating system, open a command prompt window and type in the following:

imagex /compress maximum /flags "SupportedFlag" /capture d: c:install.wim "Your Operating System Name"

• Look at the top line in the screen capture below (Fig. 11) and compare it to the command line above. You can see it has to be modified to suit your individual situation. The explanation of the items follows;

  • The first part of the entry may or may not be the same as what is illustrated depending on the version of WAIK you downloaded and where it is installed on your system. In my case it was installed to C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\ and imagex is located in Tools\PETools directory so the full entry becomes  C:\Program Files\WindowAIK\Tools\PETools>imagex.

  • The '/compress maximum' portion is self-explanatory.

  • The '/flags' entry identifies the version of Vista that is being slipstreamed. Obviously this has to be the same version that you installed to be slipstreamed. In this example I was slipstreaming the Ultimate version. You need to replace the name between the quote marks with your version. The available choices are "Starter", "HomeBasic", "HomePremium", "Business", "Ultimate", "Enterprise", "ServerDatacenter", "ServerEnterprise", and "ServerStandard". Remember, the quotation marks remain in place and there is no space between words in the version names.

  • The '/capture e:' in the example is where the installation of Vista to be used in the image is located. I had installed it on partition e:, but you'll have to change the partition letter to match your installation.

  • The 'c:\install.wim' is the location where you want the new image to be saved and what the image will be named. Change the location portion (c:) to wherever you want to save the new image. Do not change the 'install.wim' portion.

  • Replace the name with your version being slipstreamed. Include the quotation marks. 


Fig. 11

• Once you have the command ready to go and double checked for accuracy just hit the enter key and the process will begin. The rest of the screen capture above shows what you will see during the course of the image building. Eventually the 'Successfully Imaged' line will appear indicating the process has completed. How long it takes to build the image depends on a number of factors. In this example I believe it was about 45 minutes start to finish, so be patient.

Step 4 - Create the New ISO File or Slipstreamed DVD

The hard work is finished. Now it's just a case of putting together the .iso file and burning the DVD so fire up UltraISO and make sure your old Vista DVD is in the DVD drive tray.

• The top section of UltraISO shows the image that is being built while the bottom part is the local computer system. The name of the original Vista DVD is shown lower left with the contents displayed lower right. Select all the files shown and then click the Add button circled in red.

Fig. 12

• The selected files have now been copied to the image section of UltraISO. In the upper right you'll see the 'Total Size' area where it says 57% of 4.7GB. If this area is a bright red and shows an overload, just click where it says 2585MB and make sure a 4.7GB DVD is selected.

Fig. 13

• In the Image section of UltraISO, move to the Sources folder and scroll down to and delete the install.wim file. Open up Windows Explorer, navigate to wherever you saved the install.wim folder you created in the previous step and drag and drop it into the upper right hand pane of UltraISO.

Fig. 14

• On the 'Bootable' menu select the 'Extract Boot File from CD/DVD' option. Make sure the original Vista DVD is in the DVD drive.

Fig. 15

• The 'Extract Boot Image' dialogue will open. Make a note of where the file will be saved and click the 'Make' button. Click 'OK' once the successful execution dialogue appears.

• On the 'Bootable' menu select 'Load Boot File'

Fig. 17

• Select the boot file (.bif extension) that was created in the previous step. Click 'Open' button.

Fig. 18

• On the 'File' menu select the 'Save As' option.

Fig. 19

•  Give the file a name (change save location if you want) and then click 'Save' button.

Fig. 20

• Once 'Save' has been clicked the [Burn Image] dialog box opens and the .iso file is created. A couple of things to note. First, the type of image is now a Bootable CD/DVD rather than just a plain Data CD/DVD that was shown in previous screen captures. This happened during the previous 'Load Boot File' step. Unfortunately, my less than stellar planning and screen capture setup and editing skills obscured it from view, so I'll just settle for mentioning it now. Second, even though this is a 'Burn Image' dialogue box there isn't any real 'burning' going on. The .iso is being saved as a file, not burned to a DVD.

Fig. 21

• If you want to burn an actual slipstreamed DVD (and I assume you do since very few users actually install from .iso files) rather than just create the .iso file, click the Burn CD/DVD button, click the '...' button and browse to the saved .iso file, select it and then click 'Burn' to begin the burning process. I would tuck the .iso file away someplace safe in case something happens to the slipstreamed DVD and you want to burn another without having to go through the entire process again.

Fig. 22

A Final Note About Installation

If you've installed from a Microsoft Vista DVD you're aware you have the option to skip entering your serial number during the installation process. Skipping serial number entry requires you select the edition of Vista you purchased (Fig. 23). Until a selection is made the installation is locked. The reason this happens is because without the serial number being provided Vista doesn't know which version to install, so you have to manually provide that information. It's different with the slipstreamed DVD that was just created.

The slipstreamed DVD has no need for the Fig. 23 screen because the Vista version was selected way back when you typed that long command into the command prompt window in preparation for imaging. If you selected Ultimate, that's what the DVD will install. Same for Home Premium or Home Basic or Business. You don't have to enter the serial number during installation, but you do eventually have to enter it to activate and keep using the Vista installation. And yes, before you ask, if you create an Ultimate slipstreamed DVD and try and activate it later with a Home Premium serial number, the activation will fail.

If you want a slipstreamed DVD that contains all the different versions, or an assortment of different versions, that's certainly possible, but you have to go through the entire process listed above for each different version and then bring them all together under one .wim file. The Windows Automated Installation Kit used earlier in the process contains full documentation on how this is accomplished using the /append function. Look in the Windows Preinstallation Environment User's Guide for ImageX Command Line Options.

Fig. 23